Telstra opts to outsource

Telstra
has confirmed it will outsource about 300 staff to two providers based mainly in India and the Philippines as part of Project New, its drive to ­dramatically cut costs and save $400 million.

As first reported in The Australian Financial Review, Telstra launched a request for proposal nine months ago to outsource up to 1200 back-office finance and accounting roles.

Telstra yesterday confirmed about 160 full-time roles would be made redundant while sources said about 140 more agency roles would have their work shifted to outsourcers.

The company refused to say how much the cuts were worth.

“As a result of a long-standing tender, some administrative back-of- house functions are proposed to be performed by industry partners based overseas," a Telstra spokeswoman said in a statement. “We regret that employees may be affected by these proposed changes and if the proposal goes ahead will do all we can to minimise this impact."

Management consulting firm, AT Kearney, is understood to have managed the RFP and the two companies taking on the new roles are IBM and Tata Consultancy Services.

Global firms, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and HP Enterprise Services, are understood to have competed for the work.

Staff were informed of the decision in meetings yesterday, after which union representatives were told of the decision. The roles will be phased out over the next three months.